


i secretly like it (even if i'm clumsy by myself)

by duswns, fraternize



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Baking, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Soobin is a brat, Where do we go from here?, yeonjun is a brat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:42:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28491096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duswns/pseuds/duswns, https://archiveofourown.org/users/fraternize/pseuds/fraternize
Summary: “soobin-ah, if you ever need any help, just text me or call me,” she reminded for the umpteenth time as she sent him a few recipes she made soobin promise to follow, “you always have my number.”“don’t worry about me,” he reassured, although he wasn’t much more skilled at baking than his bandmates, “it can’t be that hard.”(alternatively, soobin is a struggling baker and yeonjun tries [keyword: tries] to help)
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 2
Kudos: 71





	i secretly like it (even if i'm clumsy by myself)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jjunicore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jjunicore/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAURA!!! lau and i worked on this together and we hope u like it, we love u, we also hope u enjoy ur implicit cameo in this fic hohoho

soobin sighed as he stared at the recipe:

  * 125 grams of unsalted butter
  * 3/4 cup of sugar
  * 1/2 cup of brown sugar
  * 1 egg
  * 1 and 3/4 mug of flour
  * 1 bar of chocolate 
  * 200 grams of hazelnuts
  * 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
  * 1 teaspoon of baking powder



he was confused to say the least. he was fairly new at the prospect of baking, only making simple delicacies every now and then with easy-to-follow tutorials readily available both in written and visual form. but here he was now, standing alone in the dorm’s kitchen, staring down at an elaborate recipe from an old friend who now owns a bakery.

they talked for a while, an easy back and forth between the two, soobin sharing stories of idol life and living in a dorm with four other guys who were all inept at the culinary arts, while she shared anecdotes about her job with so much excitement that soobin had a hard time turning down her offer to give him baking lessons. 

“soobin-ah, if you ever need any help, just text me or call me,” she reminded for the umpteenth time as she sent him a few recipes she made soobin promise to follow, “you always have my number.”

“don’t worry about me,” he reassured, although he wasn’t much more skilled at baking than his bandmates, “it can’t be _that_ hard.”

little did he know, it _could_ be that hard. that’s why he rarely baked in the first place; no matter how easy the recipe was, he always ended up staring blankly at the kitchen counter, wondering where everything went wrong.

just like now, he was having difficulty making sense of the recipe his friend sent even though he had no trouble understanding each step the first time he read it. he supposes he could call her and ask her to explain some of the things he didn’t understand about the recipe, but his pride wouldn’t allow it. _sure_ , the batter doesn’t look right and _sure_ , the bits of nuts and chocolate he put in the batter look far too big for the size of cookie he was going for, but he still wasn’t going to call her. 

he caused his own problems and now he was going to solve them.

as he mulls it over on the counter, he hears someone walk behind him and ask, “what are you doing, soobin-hyung?” he realizes it’s taehyun and turns around with a pout on his lips, a complaint on the tip of his tongue, until taehyun puts a hand up, “actually, i don’t need to know,” he starts, “your face says it all, your baking isn’t going well,” soobin nods at that, showing off his sad looking batter. taehyun wrinkles his nose at that, “well, good luck, hyung,” he says, putting on his shoes, “i have a vocal lesson with kai today, and beomgyu-hyung’s in his studio.”

“you guys are just leaving me to my own devices like this?” soobin replies, sulking at the thought of being left alone while he was baking.

“precisely,” taehyun quips, but he pauses and quickly corrects himself, “actually, no, yeonjun-hyung is still here if you need help.”

but before soobin can even get a word in, taehyun opens the door and leaves, shouting, “hyung, i’d really like to come home to a dorm and not remnants of one, bye!”

the door clicks close and soobin scowls, returning to the problem at hand: his poor baking skills and his sad looking batter.

he double checks his messages, looks at the ingredients and sees that he has everything out, completely sure that he put all of the ingredients in his bowl. he double checks the recipe, sees his friend’s little pointers and notes, but as carefully as he reads, he doesn’t see any discrepancies between what he did and what the recipe asks of him.

an exasperated noise escapes the back of his throat as he hears someone trudge out of the hallway, presumably yeonjun, waking up from his nap.

“what’s wrong bin-ah?” yeonjun asks as he walks up to soobin and wraps his arms around his waist, resting his chin on the younger’s shoulder while looking down inquisitively at the mess splayed on the kitchen counter. 

“i don’t know what i’m doing,” soobin confesses, “my friend told me to try this recipe because it was supposed to be easy to follow, but i don’t know if this looks right,” he pauses to inspect the batter again, “should i just redo it?” he asks, unsure, “i don’t even know if we have more ingredients, and this already took me, like, 30 minutes to make, but that was my fault because i kinda got distracted halfway through, also i don’t know if my ego could take it if i had to remake the batter and then realize that it was missing some really tiny thing or that nothing was actu-” he rambles, but yeonjun shushes him, and puts his index finger up to his lips, effectively putting his rambling to a stop. 

“show me the recipe,” yeonjun asks, untangling himself from soobin.

soobin nods and unlocks his phone, but yeonjun stops him for a second, “wait, you still have me sleeping as your lock screen?” he deadpans.

soobin rubs at his neck, a light blush creeping up his face, “yeah,” he nods. 

yeonjun hums, a little confused himself since he isn’t the baker type, only the ‘i’m the eldest and by default had to learn to cook _something_ or else my roommates would eat takeout every single day’ type. 

so he looks at soobin, and just asks if he wants to restart, “we can act like this attempt never happened soobinie,” he assures, “your conscience will be clear!” he jokes, getting an elbow to the gut at that and an indignant _yah!_ , but he giggles nonetheless, massaging his stomach because soobin never takes revenge lightly, “can you be more aware of your own strength?” he pleads.

“sorry, hyung,” soobin replies, no hint of remorse in his voice.

“no you're not," yeonjun scowls.

“yeah, i’m not,” soobin chuckles, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.

after they scoured their pantry for the necessary ingredients, they both sighed in relief as they saw that they still had enough to make another batch of cookies — they actually had enough for two, surprisingly enough, which they hoped they wouldn’t need. soobin watched as yeonjun scraped his failed attempt at cookies into the garbage bin and haphazardly threw the bowl into the sink, asking him to wash it to prepare for their new batch.

“no monkey business, let’s get this right this time,” yeonjun says, playful sternness in his voice.

soobin hums as he rolls up his sleeves, already walking to the sink, “of course, yeonjun-ssi.”

yeonjun’s smile drops at that, “i told you not to call me yeonjun-ssi,” he whines.

“yeonjun-gun?” soobin tries again, amused.

“you’re really pushing it today, you brat,” yeonjun says inching his way towards soobin, a faux expression of anger on his face.

“do you prefer i don’t use honorifics at all, yeonjun-ah,” soobin smirks, rinsing the bowl meticulously, almost dropping it as yeonjun suddenly pounces on him, squishing his cheeks and tickling his sides.

“choi soobin, you are insufferable,” he bemoans but soobin only laughs at him, head falling onto the elder’s shoulder as his laughter wracks his whole body. “okay! really, no more monkey business,” yeonjun says straightening himself, pointedly not looking at soobin and his mischievous grin, “where’s the recipe again?”

“here,” soobin offers his phone with the messages with his friend opened, the ingredients list and recipe on full display.

“let’s fix what soobinie did wrong, shall we?”

as they clear the table for their new batch, yeonjun’s hands stumble across a bowl behind the box of flour, “soobin-ah, what’s this?” he asks, showing off the small bowl. 

soobin turns to look at the bowl in yeonjun’s hands and audibly gasps, “tell me you’re joking,” he says, trying to channel all of the hatred he can muster into the small bowl, “out of all the ingredients i had to forget the eggs,” he groans, “hyung, this is so dumb,” hands up in resignation, backing away from the counter, “i give up.”

yeonjun looks at soobin, a little sheepish and trying to hold in a giggle, “well, if it’s any consolation, we can use them for our new batch and put the other eggs back in the fridge.” 

soobin looks at him, face flat, eyes squinty, close to pulling the same antics that the elder had done onto him, “very funny, hyung,” he adds a monotonous string of _ha ha ha_ ’s for effect.

“hey, even the smallest victories deserve to be celebrated,” yeonjun argues, but soobin doesn’t react at that, “okay, back to baking,” he looks away, decidedly ignoring soobin’s bland reaction to his teasing, looking at the recipe with renewed determination. “this shouldn’t be too hard, right soobin-ah?” 

soobin eyes him warily at that, an uncertain chuckle falls from his lips, “i’m not really in a position to answer that, hyung.”

soobin and yeonjun make quick work of preparing the batter, following the recipe as closely as they can, bickering all the while, “soobin-ah, you haven’t forgotten the eggs again, have you?” yeonjun pokes fun at him, mirth in his eyes and a cheshire cat grin on his lips, “are you sure you’re adding that flour _slowly_?” he teases, and soobin pointedly looks at him, boring daggers into yeonjun’s side profile. 

soobin also partakes in yeonjun’s antics, “i don’t know hyung, are those pieces _small enough_ for the cookies?” yeonjun glares at him, “did you chop the nuts well enough?” he’s one step closer to putting soobin into a headlock, and soobin’s holding in a chuckle amused by his hyung’s short temper.

“i think we’re done,” yeonjun says, wiping imaginary sweat off his brow and dusting off his still pristine apron. 

“are you _sure_ , hyung?”

“one hundred per cent, bin-ah,” he replies confidently, “if not, i’ll buy you midnight snacks for a week straight.”

soobin perks up at that, until he realizes that his free food comes at the cost of his beloved cookies and hard work. “that’s on you, hyung,” he shrugs. as much as he wants the cookies to come out perfect, he wouldn’t mind getting free midnight snacks for an entire week either, in all honesty.

he puts the cookie tray in the oven — that they timed to be precisely preheated for 15 minutes — and prays to every god in existence, that this time, their shared labor and love poured into one batch of cookies pay off. yeonjun even has to tell soobin to back off from the oven, since he was standing right next to it, eyes focused on the cookies inside as if it would improve the way they sat in the oven.

“stop looking at them like that, they’re gonna feel pressured,” yeonjun smacks soobin on the shoulder with a towel, “c’mon, help me clean the counter,” he suggests, trying his best to distract soobin from thinking about the cookies. all the younger’s been doing so far is fiddling with everything around him; his shirt, the random egg coated fork on the counter, and even the corners of the chocolate wrappers. 

soobin nods, massaging his shoulder with a pout, before picking up anything he could throw in the trash can.

their system is harmonious, yeonjun washes their dirty dishes and soobin cleans the counters. yeonjun dries the dishes and soobin puts them back in the drawers.

until yeonjun coughs out of nowhere and suddenly asks, “ _hypothetically_ , what would we do if we forgot the eggs again?”

soobin stops in his tracks, looking at yeonjun, incredulous, about to ask him questions about the eggs, maybe even give up his title as resident pacifist, until yeonjun stops him, “babe, relax, the eggs are in the batter.” he reminds him, “you even watched me pour in the egg, why are you so worried,” he adds, but only gets a _shut up, hyung_ and a glare boring into the back of his skull.

if soobin’s shoulders relax, his mind doesn’t, ears reddening at the term of endearment, “well, it wouldn’t work then, right?” he asks, but it’s more an affirmation than a question, “without eggs, the cake would be flat and just gross.”

“i beg to differ,” yeonjun huffs, “what difference does _one_ egg make? there are so many other ingredients, what does leaving one out do?”

“hyung?” soobin says, confused and downright appalled, “eggs do a lot of things for baking,” there’s a strangled noise at the back of his throat again, suddenly unsure why all four of them have depended on yeonjun for so long to do the cooking.

“okay, what do they do then?” yeonjun raises a challenging brow at him.

“i don’t know,” soobin shrugs, “ask the eggs,” his stance is a telltale sign that he has given up and is near to choosing violence. he sighs incredibly loud and grabs his phone, asks bixby _what do eggs do for baking_ , the results presenting themselves in mere seconds. soobin clears his throat, readjusts his posture, and reads loudly, “from just-a-pinch dot com, eggs are the backbone of many baked goods and contribute to their structure,” he pointedly looks at yeonjun, “eggs also provide steam for leavening or moisture for starch. egg yolks add moi-”

“okay, i think i get the point soob-”

“ah, ah, ah,” soobin tuts, “i’m not done, yeonjun-ssi,” it’s yeonjun’s turn to glare, “as i was saying, before i was _rudely_ interrupted,” he says leveling yeonjun with an unamused look, “egg yolks add moisturizing fat and help emulsify the batter, giving the baked good a smooth and creamy texture.”

yeonjun levels him with a blasé expression, “are you done?” 

with a smug grin on his lips, soobin asks, “do you see the importance of eggs as an ingredient now, hyung?”

“yeah, yeah, whatever, moisture and emulsify and some other words,” he says, waving a hand to dismiss the conversation.

they move on from that, discussing mundane things such as what they’ve been doing, the choreography they’ve been learning, the lessons they’ve been taking. talking comes easy to the two; years of shared experiences have made it as simple as breathing to bask in each other’s company. before they know it, someone’s phone dings, a loud, tinny sound, reminding them of their baking and reeling them back to reality: the smell of cookies waft in the air, and soobin follows it all the way to the kitchen, hurrying to get the cookies and try them.

“calm down, bin-ah, the cookies are still gonna be there,” yeonjun says as he watches soobin hurriedly turn off the oven and take out the tray, giddy and anticipatory. “let them cool down first!” he scolds as he watches soobin try to touch the baked goods. 

soobin pouts at that, “but i wanna try them,” he says, looking at yeonjun.

“well, if you burn your tongue, don’t come crying to me,” yeonjun huffs.

“i don’t know, hyung, i think you’d like it if i came crying to you,” soobin prods, smirking.

yeonjun reddens at that and stammers _shut up, soobin_ and stomps his way into the living room. soobin follows suit, giggling, but he takes another longing look at his cookies, _damn, do they look good_. 

“did i make your heart flutter, hyungie,” soobin says as he enters the living room, making obnoxious kissy noises and pointing finger guns at the elder.

yeonjun blankly stares at him from the couch, mouth ajar, until he visibly shakes himself out of it, and slaps a hand over his face, “do you want to fight, you brat?” 

“hyung, you know i’d win,” soobin declares, laughing as he inches his way towards yeonjun. soobin hears a huff and a nonchalant _whatever._

soobin settles next to yeonjun on the couch and makes kissy faces and noises, obviously trying to rile up the elder. yeonjun groans and reddens, trying to hide his face from the younger, “hyung, stop hiding,” soobin whines, “i wanna see your face,” he singsongs as his hands pry at yeonjun’s, trying to get a clear view of his reddened face. 

“get away from me, choi soobin,” yeonjun whines.

“you know you don’t want me to do that,” soobin laughs.

“you are a menace,” yeonjun says, sighing in defeat as he spreads out on the couch, narrowly missing soobin’s face as he throws his arms out to spread them on the couch.

“you love me,” soobin says as he presses closer into yeonjun’s space, their faces mere centimeters apart, noses nearly touching. yeonjun hums in acknowledgement as soobin closes the distance between them, their eyes closing, and then, soobin pecks yeonjun’s lips, quick and chaste.

yeonjun tries to chase soobin’s lips, but soobin moves further from him and asks, “do you think the cookies cooled down enough?”

“really?” yeonjun says blankly, his face expressionless, breaking away from soobin.

“yes, _really._ come check them out with me,” soobin says as he grabs yeonjun by the arm and drags him into the kitchen. (and if yeonjun's smiling like a lovesick fool, it's no one’s business, but his.)

**Author's Note:**

> u can find me [@yeonjuntrbl](https://twitter.com/yeonjuntrbl) and lau [@pixietyun](https://twitter.com/pixietyun) on twt  
> happy birthday again lau we love u !!


End file.
